66 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



February, 



reasonably doubt if either of the varieties 

 used for pollenizing may have -any claim to 

 this position, and he who presents such 

 claims to an intelligent public only shows 

 his superficial knowledge on the subject he 

 has pretended to master. To my mind there 

 is no question but that health and constitu- 

 tional vigor can best be secured and main- 

 tained by strict attention to the laws of 

 heredity; but experience proves that pro- 

 gress and advancement in quality is more 

 slow, though none the less sure. 



As we advance in civilization there is a 

 corresponding reduction in the reproductive- 

 ness of the spe- 

 cies. This seems 

 to be a law of 

 Nature, that 

 where ignorance, 

 superstition, and 

 a low order of in- 

 telligence pre- 

 vail, there pop- 

 ulation increases 

 to the maximum, 

 and as we ascend 

 in civilization, in- 

 telligence and 

 wealth, with its 

 attendants, to a 

 higher scale of 

 mental, moral 

 and physical 

 style and habits 

 of living, sur- 

 rounded with 

 comforts and lux- 

 uries, there is 

 a corresponding 

 decrease in the 

 multiplication of the human species. 



This law of Nature is quite as apparent in 

 the vegetable kingdom, as shown by our 

 fruits. It is especially so in the Peach. I 

 think it is quite within the bounds of truth 

 to say that the germinating power of the pits 

 of our finest varieties, taking an average, is 

 reduced 50 to 75 per cent as compared with 

 native pits. At least this is my experience. 

 Does not the longevity and health of the 

 variety suffer in similar ratio? My ovsn ex- 

 perience as well as others' seems to point that 

 way. The city of Newark, N. J., five miles 

 from where I now write, has perhaps been 

 the home of thousands of seedling peaches 

 of large size, high quality, and superior 

 merits, the original trees living and bearing 

 large crops for a score or more of years, very 

 few of which when budded and grown else- 

 where have lived long or sustained their 

 home reputation. Is this failure due to soil, 

 situation, surroundings, or protection? 



If some of our scientific experimentors, or 

 the faculty of our experiment stations, were 

 to undertake the task of crossing the blossoms 

 of our native seedlings with pollen from 

 some of our finer varieties, who knows but 

 the result would be in perpetuating the 

 longevity and health of these natives, now 

 used only as stocks — in new varieties equal 

 ing, if not exceeding, the fine but shortlived 

 varieties we now have? The experiment is 

 worth trying. Did any one ever see a case 

 of blight in one of our native indigenous 

 Pear trees with which this State abounds? 

 I never have seen or heard of any. Who 

 doubts but seedlings of these as stocks for 

 our imported varieties would have a benefi- 

 cial effect in the direction of health and 

 hardiness. These fields are ample, open and 

 inviting. Who will enter them? 



Echeverias as Bed,dlng Plants. 



As ornamental plants the Echeverias (or, 

 as English botanists propose to call them, the 

 Cotyledons) are admirabl}' adapted to the 

 formal or geometric style of bedding out. 

 The plants are prim and formal in habit of 

 growth, while their peculiar succulent nature 

 gives to them a character at once distinct and 

 interesting. Each individual may be likened 

 to a rosette of leaves. As the growth is slow 

 and regular, by arranging the plants in geo- 

 metric forms, using contrasting colors of 

 foliage, the eflfect capable of being created, 

 as may be seen by our engraving.is decidedly 



BED OF ECHEVERIAS IN THE GEOMETRIC ARRANGEMENT. 



unique. The Echeverias are also a useful 

 class of plants for rock gardening. 



Not the least among the merits of the more 

 ordinary sorts of these plants is the ease 

 with which they arc managed from year to 

 year. One of the best known species is E. 

 secvnda, and this is a half-hardy plant, which 

 may be wintered in a dry frame or in the 

 cellar. Others are more tender, needing a 

 greenhouse or moderately warm cellar in 

 which to keep them through the winter. 



The species named, as well as a variety of 

 it known as E. nerunda glauca. are the 

 easiest to increase, as thej' are also the most 

 useful sorts for bedding. They are of a low 

 habit of growth and find a ready means of 

 employment in forming panels in beds, or 

 else as dividing lines or edging lines. These 

 annually produce numerous side growths, 

 which can be removed and grown into good 

 plants in a comparatively short time. A 

 usual method of handling them is to remove 

 the offsets during the winter, set them into 

 shallow boxes in a fair growing, but dry 

 place, until some weeks before planting-out 

 time, when they should be potted up indi- 

 vidually to prepare them for this stage. 



The vigorous Blood-leaved Echeveria (E. 

 sanguinea), together with the species named 

 next below, because of their conspicuous size 

 and forms, are chiefly used in central posi- 

 tions in bedding. In the former kind, as the 

 plants get large, they have a tendency to 

 drop their leaves. These, if placed on a 

 surface of damp moss or sand, will take root 

 from their lower end, and very quickly 

 make plants. This one also seeds freely, 

 and plants could be raised from the seed. 



The beautiful Metallic Echeveria {E. 

 meUiUica), and its varieties, must in the main 

 be raised from seed, as they make but few 



suckers. There is one other way of increas- 

 ing this favorite which should be mentioned. 

 Early in the season flower stems are thrown 

 up from old plants. By cutting the embryo 

 flowers off from these and setting the stems 

 in pots of sandy soil they will strike root, 

 and will also produce numerous little offsets 

 from the axils of the flower stem leaves. By 

 placing these offsets on a bed of moist sand 

 they will soon throw out roots, after which 

 they may go into pots of soil. 



To raise plants from seed, sow such as is 

 quite fresh in pots filled almost full of well- 

 sanded loam and leaf mold, covering lightly 

 with sand. Cover 

 with a pane of 

 glass and shade, 

 keeping the pot 

 in a close frame. 

 The soil should 

 have been once 

 well watered be- 

 fore sowing and 

 this will answer 

 until the plants 

 are up. Later 

 prick out, give 

 sun and air, and 

 during the first 

 winter keep dry. 

 In the culture 

 of Echeverias in 

 general two rules 

 should be closely 

 observed, name- 

 ly, when in a 

 half dormant 

 state, as during 

 the winter sea- 

 son, they must 

 be kept comparatively dry, but later on, 

 as growth is proceeding, they should be 

 freely watered. But overwatering and a 

 soddened soil they will at no time bear. 



Norway Spruce for Shelter Belts. 



On the northern line of the writer's grounds 

 stands a wind break of Norway Spruce trees 

 that is, and always has been, a most satis- 

 factory feature of the place. This screen 

 was planted some twelve years ago, small 

 trees, 18 inches in height, having been used; 

 now it is about twelve feet high, a solid, 

 thrifty wall of green, and most admirably 

 answering the purpose for which it was 

 planted. It has been occasionally pruned. 



Finding our own Spruce shelter belt so 

 satisfactory we have always felt a hearty in- 

 terest in the matter of shelters for the grounds 

 of others as well. Some time since we had 

 our attention called to a very remarkable 

 belt of this kind on the grounds of E. H. 

 Ricker& Co., Nurserymen, Elgin, 111. It is 

 perhaps as good an illustration of what can 

 be done in providing a complete shelter of 

 this kind for home grounds,orchards,etc. , as 

 can be found. The nursery company re- 

 ferred to had an engraving made of their 

 belt from a photograph, and this by their 

 kindness we are able to present herewith. 



The belt at Elgin, like our own, is of 

 Norway Spruce. Although the trees com- 

 posing it are but thirty years old, they 

 have reached the great height of 70 feet 

 throughout the length of the screen. As 

 can readily be understood by a glance at the 

 picture, the foliage and branches are so 

 thick that it is impossible for the fiercest 

 storms to go through it. It stands out upon 

 the open prairie, and for twenty years has 

 been a complete shelter belt. 



